> joining us now to examine the david gregory interview and the coverage of this fiscal cliff showdown. bob cusack manager of "the hill." what does it say about the state of the budgetary wars that president obama chose to go on a sunday talk show. >> he is doing this interview why congress is trying to do it. very critical of congress and i think this interview wasn't exactly combative. he challenged him on it. >> who challenged who? >> david gregory challenged obama on some points but made $1 trillion in cuts, he also vowed to cut the deficit in half in 2009. that has not happened. >> compared david gregory we saw at the top of the show waving that magazine at wain lapierre. this was a low-key interview. >> meek and weak. i didn't find david gregory, i think he lost his punch over this short-lived vacation. a number of points he didn't press the president hard enough. >> the president gave short answers. >> but there's really no excuse. >> the pomp and the ceremony. on the other hand, and you've had experience covering barack obama going back to chicago, it can be hard to interrupt d